The Way It Was
by BeachBum89
Summary: Lily's 7th year at Hogwarts. She likes James, but does he like her or her boy crazy best friend?
1. Memories

**Chapter 1: Memories**

"LILY!" Lily Evans smiled as soon as she recognized the voice of her best friend, Penny. An instant later Penny smothered Lily with a heartfelt embrace. "I've missed you so much!"

"Aw, you know I've missed you too. Three months is way too long to be away from you," Lily said honestly.

"Mr. and Mrs. Evans, how have you been?" Penny directed her attention to Lily's parents who looked slightly uncomfortable standing behind the two teenage girls and overstuffed trunks.

"We've had a lovely summer, it always ends too soon. But at least we know our Lily will be safe with you," Mrs. Evans said.

"Yes, you'll be sure to keep her entertained at least," Mr. Evans chimed in.

"Oh how well you know me," Penny chuckled.

"Well we really ought to be going, the train leaves in fifteen minutes," Lily said.

"Yes, that's true of course," Mrs. Evans said softly. Her eyes became noticeably moist.

"Ma, come on, you'll see me in just a few months. And this is my last year, how can you still be so sad to see me go?"

"You'll understand one day when you're a mother."

"Alright, well I'm off. Bye mom, bye dad. I love you guys." Lily quickly kissed her parents goodbye.

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Evans!" Penny called. The two girls then disappeared beyond the wall that was Platform 9 ¾. Once on the platform they quickly boarded the train and found an empty compartment.

"So, come on tell me all about your summer!" Penny exclaimed. "I feel like we haven't talked in AGES."

"Pen, we wrote to each other all the time, what are you talking about."

"Yeah, but you know that's not the same. I need to know _everything_; first of all how many boys did you hook up with?"

"Come on, we're talking about me here, like I told you in my letters I hardly even spoke to any guys let alone had anything happen with them. I'm not into Muggles like you are."

"Well I don't see why not since you were born and raised as one."

"That's exactly why. Look what this has done to my family, it's completely torn Petunia and me apart. I just don't want anything like that to happen with my own family."

"Lily, you don't need to marry every guy you fool around with."

"Yeah, yeah I know. But seriously, my summer was terribly boring, let's hear about yours and that college boy."

"Well, like I said, I told him that I was home from my freshman year at school just like him and of course he bought it and well, let's just say it was the perfect summer fling."

"Alright, and it's completely over now? No feelings or anything?" Lily asked suspiciously.

"Ew, no of course not. If there were feelings this would not have been a fling now would it?"

"Yeah, I guess not. I just don't know how you do it." Lily thought back on all of Penny's previous summers. They all had some kind of crazy boy adventure, but yet she never had any regret or sadness about leaving them to return to Hogwarts.

"Well Lily, you're just looking for something more serious than I am I guess. But hey, I admire you. You're the kind of girl that would never cheat on a guy, you would probably actually be able to handle a long distance situation." Penny showed a glimpse of regret. Over the previous winter break she had been dating Kevin Masterson, a Gryffindor a year younger than the two of them. After being apart for only a week she had already cheated on him. She never told Kevin about that, but they didn't last much longer once they returned to Hogwarts. "So, any chance you and Looney Lupin are gonna get back together?"

"Come on Pen, don't call him that. He's such a sweet guy. But no, he and I are definitely over. You should know that, it was almost two years ago."

"Yeah I know, and I'm very relieved. But I'm just saying, he's the only guy you were ever with, you can't just not have any action in the guy department your 7th year."

"Alright, alright, I'm not saying I'm not looking for something. But who would I date? Who do you have your eye on this year?"

"You always assume I have a prospect, but yeah you're right of course. You may not believe this, but at the moment my eye is on James."

"Potter? But he's such an ass."

"Yeah, I know. But he has gotten better you know. You remember how cute he and Janie were last year. And _she_ was the one to end it. He actually would've tried to keep up the relationship over the summer."

"Alright, yeah you've got a point, he's gotten better." Lily was glad to see that Penny wasn't looking closely at her facial expressions. She was usually pretty good at reading what Lily was thinking, but Lily felt pretty confident that Penny had no idea just how well she remembered James and Janie's relationship. It was then that Lily realized how sensitive and caring James really could be and she was embarrassed to admit to herself that it was he who had occupied the majority of her thoughts over the summer. And now it was as if a knife had been pointed at Lily, threatening to do damage because if there was one thing she knew about Penny, it was that she usually got what she wanted in the boy department.

Penny was every guy's fantasy. She was 5'6" with long silky blonde hair and mysterious blue eyes. She had a perfect body and was not afraid to show it off at every opportunity. While most of the girls wore jeans or sweatpants around the Gryffindor common room, she would often wear skirts and shorts showing off her long toned legs. Penny was nowhere near oblivious to all the heads that turned when she walked by. Penny was also a Chaser on the Quidditch team. Lily envied Penny in many ways; they were in Lily's eyes complete opposites. Lily was not athletic in the slightest and while Penny had the body of a model and was extremely confident with herself Lily felt too short and was generally insecure about her entire appearance. The one thing Lily had over Penny was her work ethic, Lily was a very serious student and because of that felt that people saw her as boring and nerdy.

"Well alright Lil, we need to get you a prospective boy. I think more than anything you just need to get a bit more experience and I know the perfect guy to help you with that." Penny flashed one of her typical mysterious grins.

"Penny, there's no way I would ever let that pig near me."

"Sirius Black a pig? O no, I beg to differ. Let me tell you, he certainly knows how to please the ladies, if you know what I mean. Seriously though, I'd be all over him if I hadn't been there so many times in the past." Penny and Sirius had been on again off again since the middle of their 3rd year at Hogwarts.

"Well regardless of our difference in opinions on Sirius, where are these guys? Isn't it weird that we haven't seen them yet?"

"Yeah, good point, we should go find them," Penny said as she got up. The two girls walked out of their compartment and almost immediately saw three familiar faces.

"Penny! Lily!" shouted a cute brunette.

"Hey Carine! How have you been?" Penny said. Kerri and Allyson, the other two girls began chatting with Lily about their summers. The five Gryffindor 7th years ended up spending the remainder of the train ride catching up with one another. Lily couldn't help but wonder why James and the other boys hadn't come around to bother them, she was used to them always making some kind of scene.

When the train finally began to slow down and everyone was exiting the train Lily noticed James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter gathered around a crowd of 5th year Ravenclaws. These girls were led by an adorable and witty brunette by the name of Janie who seemed to be cracking James up. Lily felt a twinge of jealousy, she thought James and Janie were over and therefore assumed the boys would be back to giving all of their attention to her group as usual.

"Hmm, well that should make my plan a bit more challenging," Penny said offhandedly to Lily when she noticed James and Janie.

"Yeah, I don't get it. I thought she broke his heart at the end of last year," Lily said.

"Well, who knows, maybe they got back together over the summer and we just didn't know about it. I'll get James to spill tonight in the common room."

After Dumbledore's speech and the feast Lily and James (head boy and girl) led the new Gryffindors and the returning ones up to the common room. Once everyone had settled into their new rooms all the 7th years found themselves gathering around the fireplace.

"So, let's keep up the tradition," Penny exclaimed. "Who's up for some Truth or Dare?"

"Come on Pen, I think we're getting a bit old for that don'tcha think?" Lily said.

"Sounds like someone's got something to hide," James said. "We've done this for six years now, we can't very well just not do it our final year." Lily thought back to her first night as a Gryffindor. Penny had suggested the game as an icebreaker and in every following year they used it to catch up with one another.

"Alright, so who wants to go first?" Carine asked.

**A/N:** Ok, so I haven't written a story or anything in quite a while, but hey I was inspired by the recent happenings in my life so I decided to try and incorporate it into a Lily/James type of story. Hope you liked it, let me know if you have any suggestions and I'll be posting more soon I'm sure.


	2. Predictions

**Chapter 2: Predictions**

"Alright, so who wants to go first?" Carine asked.

"I will," Sirius said immediately. "Meyer, truth or dare?"

"Umm, truth," Allyson replied.

"Ok, out of us four handsome gents, whose pants would you most like to get into?"

"You certainly have a way of phrasing things," Allyson said. "But I think I need clarification, do you mean who I think is the best looking or who I would actually want to hook up with?"

"You heard the question, there's no need for me to clarify."

"Ok, ok. And I suppose the threat of Veritaserum still applies if anyone thinks you're lying," Allyson said.

"As it always does," James said. "Come on Ally, answer the question."

"Ugh, it's just so difficult with you two being so disgustingly arrogant and smug about everything."

"Well you could always choose me or Remus," Peter Pettigrew chimed in. Everyone grew quiet and looked at him; it wasn't often that he spoke up.

"Alright, I made my decision," Allyson said, bringing everyone back on track. "I guess I would have to go with you, Sirius."

"Ha ha, I knew it. All these years of you pretending to be disgusted by me, you secretly wanted me didn't you?"

"Oh how well you know me," Allyson said sarcastically. "Ok, it's my turn. Penny, truth or dare?"

"Dare of course," Penny responded automatically.

"Ok, I dare you to take the boy of your choice up to their bedroom and fool around for five minutes."

"Oh, sounds like fun!" Penny exclaimed. "James, let's go." James looked surprised when he was picked, but recovered quickly.

"Alright, come on." The two disappeared up the stairs.

"This game is so stupid, why do we always have to play it?" Lily asked scowling.

"Oh and what would you rather have us be doing?" Sirius asked. "Just because you're a prude doesn't mean the rest of us shouldn't have a little fun."

"Hey, just because I don't want to randomly make out with one of you or answer awkward questions does NOT make me a prude. I think it's horrible how this tradition of ours has become simply random hook ups that lead to nothing. What if someone here actually has genuine feelings for someone? How do we know that no one likes James or Penny and now they're off doing who knows what. This is game has become so insensitive that I can't stand to be here anymore, I'll see you all in the morning." Lily got up and ran up the girl's staircase. She had been sitting on her bed for less than a minute when Carine appeared.

"Lil, what's wrong?" Carine asked as she sat next to her.

"Like I said, I just think that this has become such an obnoxious game. It just shows how shallow we all are. James and Sirius always get the make out and girl questions while Remus and Peter sit there almost in silence. And Penny and Allyson get way more attention than you, Kerri, and me."

"Hey, no one knows that better than me, but it's no secret that Penny and Allyson are way flirtier and um _loose_ than we are. I don't think the guys think they're any more attractive than us. Come on, what is this really about? You don't still have a thing for Remus, do you?"

"No, no it's nothing like that. I guess I'm just a bit PMSy, I hope no one reads anything into this. Go back downstairs and have a good time, I'm just gonna go to bed, I'm really tired."

"Alright, get some rest, I expect you to be back to the Lily we all love by tomorrow."

"Ok, I will be. Tell everyone I'm sorry I flipped out."

Shortly after she had fallen asleep Lily was woken up by a voice. "Lily, what happened?!" Penny exclaimed.

"Mmm, go away, I'm sleeping," Lily mumbled.

"Nope, it's explanation time. Why'd you bail on us?" Lily caved, and sat up while rubbing her eyes.

"I already explained to Carine, I just wasn't in the mood to watch everyone have to make out with each other and answer embarrassing hypothetical questions, that's all."

"I don't know Lily, for some reason I don't believe that," Penny said suspiciously.

"Well, that's the only explanation you're getting for now. So tell me about the rest of the game and your make out session with James."

"If by make out you mean _talking_ than absolutely."

"You're expecting me to believe that you and James spent five minutes alone in his room and only talked?" Lily asked.

"Oh, well no, we kissed a little bit of course, but then we ended up talking about him and Janie."

"Oh, so what did you find out?" Lily asked, now growing with curiosity.

"Well, he claims that he's totally over her and what we saw today was just them catching up on their summers. I mean, I'm not totally sure I believe it all, but that's what he said."

"Ok, so are you still planning on getting with him?"

"Ehh, I don't know, I mean now that I've made out with him it just seems less appealing for some reason," Penny chuckled. "And who knows if he's seriously over Janie or not?"

"Yeah, true. Well at least you have the option; I mean I'm sure you could get any guy you wanted. I, on the other hand, am pretty much destined for another year of loneliness."

"Lily, don't say that about yourself," Penny said suddenly feeling terrible for her best friend. "Hey, we'll find you a guy. And maybe you're right that I can get with a lot of guys, but that only means like random hook ups, no one would actually consider having a real relationship with me. You don't know how envious I am of what you and Lupin had, the closest thing I've ever had to a real relationship was a three month long consistent hook up with Sirius, or the two months I was with Kevin, half of which I was at home cheating on him. What's wrong with me Lily? I mean seriously, I need to learn how to commit."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with you Penny, you're just confident and like to have fun. I'm probably just a prude like Sirius said."

"He called you a prude? What a dick!"

"Well it's true," Lily said softly.

"Ok, Lily, we need to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. You need to work on being more confident, you're a gorgeous girl! And I gotta learn how to stop slutting around the place and get serious with a guy."

"Alright," Lily said starting to cheer up. "Let's make a new plan, you said you didn't want James, but was he a good kisser?"

"Yeah, he's certainly above average," Penny commented.

"Ok, so maybe I'll go for James?" Lily said trying to stay casual.

"Whoa, I thought you hated the guy."

"Well, there aren't exactly a lot of options here."

"Good point. Ok so you and James, and me aaaaand um, how about someone in Ravenclaw? I think I have a thing for those nerds."

"Ok sounds like a plan," Lily said smiling. The two girls decided to go to bed and were soon joined by Allyson, Carine, and Kerri who were returning from the common room.

The first week of classes passed by quickly and uneventfully. All the 7th years were pretty caught up in their N.E.W.T. level classes. When the weekend finally arrived they were all relieved. James, Sirius, and Penny all had a busy day Friday with Quidditch tryouts. The Gyffindor team was in need of a Chaser and a Beater. Lily decided to watch the tryouts with Allyson; they were each big Quidditch fans where Carine and Kerri thought it was overrated and only attended when they were dragged by their friends to the Gryffindor matches. The tryouts were scheduled to begin at 4, but at 4:15 Penny still hadn't shown up. James and Sirius, looking furious, left the rest of the team to walk up into the stands where Lily and Allyson were sitting.

"Do either of you have any idea where Penny is?" Sirius asked angrily.

"Hey, we're as clueless as you are." Allyson snapped back.

"Well, we're gonna go ahead and start the tryouts before people start leaving," James said. About five minutes later Penny ran down to the field. She went up to talk to Lily and Allyson first.

"Where have you been? James and Sirius are pissed." Allyson said.

"Yeah I knew they would be, but it was totally worth it. I just hooked up with Josh Kelly!"

"Oh, he's yummy," Allyson said impressed.

"Yeah, I know, I've been into him since like 4th year, but I never thought I had a chance, but he's in my Muggle Studies class and he asked to do homework together. I thought it was a weird thing to ask on a Friday, but now I know what he really wanted," Penny said with a smile.

"Well, you better get down there," Lily said.

"Good call, I'll fill you in on the details later," Penny said and ran down to join the rest of the team who didn't look happy.

"I don't know how she does it," Lily said.

"Yeah, I know, she can get anyone she wants." Allyson said, clearly jealous.

"Yeah, but the thing that confuses me is how she's so casual about it, Josh may never talk to her again and I doubt she'd even care."

"True, and James and Sirius are both so obviously into her. It's so hard to compete with her, neither of them will ever glance at any of us other Gryffindors with her always right in front of them," Allyson said solemnly.

"You think James and Sirius both like her?" Lily said surprised.

"Well, her and Sirius have such a history, I think there will always be something there and I don't know, ever since we've gotten back it seems like James has been kind of interested in her too. That of course could end up being messy with two best friends both liking the same girl."

"I don't think that's necessarily true," Lily said. "I kind of thought Sirius might be interested in you."

"Yeah right Lily," Allyson said sadly. "He may flirt with me once in a while, but he does that with every girl. I'm sure he still has his eyes on Penny."

"And James too?"

"I'm surer of him than I am of Sirius. Trust me Lily, I'm usually right about these things. My prediction is our 7th year is gonna be filled with drama and as usual Penny will be right in the middle."

"Oh goody," Lily frowned.

**A/N:** Yay me, I found time to write today! I have a pretty busy next few days though, but I'll try and post another chapter by early next week. Reviews will speed up the process!!


	3. Hope

**Chapter 3: Hope**

After the Quidditch tryouts James and Sirius were confident with their new Chaser and Beater, both promising 2nd years. James, Sirius, Penny, and Allyson went together to dinner afterwards. Lily wasn't hungry and was in a pretty bad mood so she went straight to her room. She found it empty with the exception of Kerri reading on her bed. Kerri was quiet and she knew would probably not start up a conversation with her, but for some reason whenever she felt particularly lousy about boys or problems with any of the other girls Kerri was the one she went to.

"Hey Kerri, got a minute to advise me?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, of course," she replied, putting her book down. "What's going on?"

"Okay, so I was just talking to Allyson and she thinks both James and Sirius like Penny. Any thoughts on that? You always seem to have a good grasp on who likes who."

"Well, my first question for you is going to be who you like. Obviously it's one of them if you care about who they like. My guess is James. That would explain why you got so freaked out in truth or dare when he and Penny had to hook up."

"I'm lucky everyone else isn't so perceptive," Lily said. "Okay, so here's the thing. I liked James back in like 2nd and 3rd year, but that was before I realized how much of an arrogant ass he is. Everyone said that he liked me 5th year and maybe he did, but I had no interest in him then. And then at the end of last year he started going out with Janie and I saw a whole new side of him. He was a gentleman and he really cared about her. The whole time they were together I was so jealous and all my feelings from four years ago came back. So here I am. And now I'm hearing that he likes Penny who told me that she liked him on the train ride to school by the way."

"Oh, hmm. Well honestly I think James might be interested in Penny, but I'm not sure he would actually do anything about it because of her history with Sirius. The thing is though, do you think Penny will do anything to try and get with James?"

"Well actually she told me after the truth or dare incident that she didn't want any more from him and then she goes and hooks up with some random Ravenclaw guy today so I don't think she's looking for anything serious."

"Okay, so I guess we'll just have to see what happens. I'd say try and spend some time with James alone."

"Alright, I can do that," Lily said as she stood up and started to walk towards the door.

"And Lily?" Kerri said.

"Yeah?"

"Just be nice to him. If you want him to think he has a chance with you then no more of your aloof or sarcastic remarks."

"Right, be nice," Lily repeated under her breath as she walked out of the room.

Lily walked down the stairs to the common room with a renewed sense of hope. She was disappointed to find it empty except for a few 1st year girls. Lily smiled at them as she passed by and left through the portrait. She decided to walk around the castle in the hope of running into someone.

After twenty minutes of wandering around mindlessly, Lily ended up in the library. She decided to read to try and get her thoughts off of James. She grabbed the first book that she found in the romance aisle and sat down at a table.

About forty-five minutes later she heard someone approaching her table. She glanced up to see a familiar face.

"Hey Remus!" Lily chimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you, just looking for a way to pass time. How's your book? I almost didn't come over here because you looked too absorbed in your reading." Lily quickly became embarrassed as she realized the book she was reading was titled The Real Deal and had a picture of a couple kissing.

"Oh, this thing? No, it was just the first book I grabbed. Anyway, I came here because I couldn't find anyone. Do you know where everyone went?"

"No idea. I know James and Sirius had Quidditch tryouts and Peter may've gone to watch, but I haven't seen any of them since they left for that."

"Hmm, that's really weird. Well I guess I'm gonna head back to the common room. Maybe some people are back from dinner."

"Okay, well I'll be here doing some reading so let me know if anything exciting is happening."

"Okay. I'll see you later Remus." Lily discreetly tucked the book under her arm and went to check it out hoping that Remus didn't notice. When she walked into the common room she was happy to see James, Sirius, Peter, Penny, and Allyson. Sirius and Allyson were playing Wizard's Chess and the other three were cheering them on. When   
Penny saw Lily she jumped up from the couch and dragged her towards the stairs. They both ignored Sirius as he made a comment about girl on girl action, but Lily noticed Allyson hit him flirtatiously.

"Hey, where have you been?" Penny asked once they had gotten into their room.

"I was in the library."

"You loser! On a Friday?"

"Well, I couldn't find any of you guys and I was bored." Lily defended herself. "So I think you owe me some details about Josh."

"Oh, right. Well first of all, AMAZING kisser." Lily started laughing; she knew that Penny had high standards. "But yeah, I had barely even taken off my shirt when I had to go because of stupid Quidditch tryouts." Lily rolled her eyes.

"So do you think anything else will happen with him?"

"I honestly don't know. But enough about me, you are supposed to be seducing a certain Mr. Potter."

"I wouldn't say seducing is the best term to describe it. But I've hardly even spoken to him all week. I think you have a way better shot than me with him."

"Well, if that's true than it's only because I actually TALK to him and he thinks you hate his guts."

"Well, there you go," Lily said. "I have no chance."

"That's not what I said. Maybe you should just work on being friends first. I was thinking about it the other day and I think you guys would actually be great together."

"You do?" Lily asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I mean you have a lot in common and you've each liked each other in the past. But seriously Lil, just work on being the guy's friend and then see where it goes." Lily and Penny went back down to the common room to find the game in high tension. A few minutes later Sirius had Allyson in a checkmate and her king took a brutal beating by one of his horses.

"Nice one Padfoot," James praised Sirius.

"I want a rematch," Allyson scowled.

"No, give the rest of us a turn," James said. "So who wants the privilege of playing me?" He looked towards Lily and Penny.

"I don't want to play against you, you get way too smug and competitive," Lily snapped at him and instantly regretted it. In her heard she heard Kerri's voice say "just be nice to him".

"Just as sweet as always aren't you, Evans?" James shot back.

"I'll play," Penny said to end the arguement.

"Okay, good," James said. Allyson and Sirius got up to let James and Penny take their seats at the chess table. Sirius sat down on the couch where James was sitting and Allyson went over to Lily.

"Hey, you're not gonna sit with me Ally? I saved you a seat." Sirius proceeded to give his best puppy face. Allyson rolled her eyes and sat down next to him, Sirius then wrapped his arm around her. "Don't worry hun, I'm sure you'll win the next game." He then removed his arm. Allyson looked shocked but then started grinning.

A few minutes into the game Lily began to feel very out of place. Penny and James were very into the game and it looked to her like James was flirting with Penny. Sirius and Allyson were enjoying some kind of conversation between the two of them and Peter was awkwardly cheering on James by commenting on all of his moves ("good one Prongs!"). Lily got up suddenly and walked up to her room. She doubted anyone would notice for a while.

"I'm such an idiot," she thought. "Why am I always so mean to him?" She began to tear up a little bit but wiped her eyes immediately. She got out her book and began to read to take her mind off of everything. An hour later the room was still empty. She saw that it was almost 9 so she decided to go to sleep, hoping she would feel better in the morning.

**A/N: **Sorry it took me a while to get this up. I'll try and be better. You know you wanna review!


	4. Change

**Chapter 4: Change**

The next morning Lily woke up feeling a little better. She saw that her four roommates were still asleep. She went into the bathroom, took a shower and brushed her teeth and hair. By the time she returned to the room Carine and Kerri were up. Lily wished them a good morning. They were on their way to breakfast and Lily declined their offer saying she wasn't quite hungry yet. She really just wanted a little bit more time to herself. She curled up in her bed again and pulled out her book, curious to see what would happen.

A little while later Penny woke up and seeing that Lily was awake walked over to her bed.

"Lily, I want to talk to you," she said seriously.

"Okay, what's up?"

"I'm just worried about you, you've seemed kind of down lately and you keep randomly disappearing when we're all hanging out. It's just not like you."

"Yeah, I guess I've been a bit bummed, but it's nothing serious. Just the usual back to school stuff, you know? And I don't know, I'm not back into my social groove. I spent practically the whole summer at home with only my family. I don't have too many friends left at home, Petunia managed to turn them all against me."

"Okay, and you're sure that's it?" Penny asked.

"Um, yeah, don't worry about me," Lily said. "But hey, why don't we head on down to breakfast so we don't wake up Ally."

"Yeah, good idea." Penny quickly dressed and the girls headed towards the Great Hall.

"So, anything new in the boy department?" Lily inquired. "Make any more plans with Josh to 'study'?"

"No," Penny chuckled. "Actually, I really don't have any interest in him I've decided."

"Really? That's not like you. Well what about either of the new Quidditch players? They both seemed pretty cute."

"Lily, they're 2nd years!" Penny said. "Do you seriously think I would stoop that low?"

"Yeah, you're right, sorry."

"But, seriously I'm going back to my original plan, Lil, I think I might want something real," Penny said.

"Oh, and any prospective boys?"

"Okay, well actually yes. Well, maybe. You know, after you left last night James and I really got to bond and it was nice. I guess I realized that I do like him, remember how I said that before?"

"Yeah, I remember," Lily said, trying not to let her sadness show.

"But first I must know, do you like him at all? I know we kind of said that you were gonna try and get with him."

"Come on Penny," Lily tried to sound amused by the idea, "I never seriously thought anything would happen between me and James. And besides, it's pretty obvious that he's into you."

"I'm not so sure about that, but we'll see," Penny smiled. "So you're totally sure you don't like him because you did kind of seem interested before."

"No, you can definitely have him," Lily reassured her friend. They reached the Great Hall and sat down next to Kerri and Carine.

"So, what do you guys have planned for the weekend?" Carine asked.

"No idea," Penny said. "Surprisingly James isn't making us practice until next week so I have until Monday off."

"Great!" Carine said. "Would you be up for a trip to Hogsmeade? I bet we can get the guys to go with us."

"I don't know," Lily said. "I have a ton of work to do this weekend."

"Lil, seriously, we all have work, you're coming with us," Penny said. "That sounds like a great idea Carine. Are any of the boys up yet?"

"Yeah, they were actually down here before us," Kerri commented. "They were eating with those Ravenclaw girls."

"Oh, you mean Janie and her friends?" Penny said, clearly jealous.

"Yeah," Carine said.

"Did you see where they went?" Penny asked jumping up from her chair.

"What are you gonna do, track them down?" Lily said. "Sit down and finish your breakfast, I'm sure we'll see them in the Common Room before the trip."

Once the girls had finished their breakfasts they all walked back to the Common Room together. They found James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter sitting in a corner whispering about something.

"I wonder what they're up to," Penny said approaching them. "What'cha doin?" she asked when she reached them.

"Oh, nothing," James grinned mysteriously.

"Suuure," Penny said. "Well, any interest in escorting us lovely ladies to Hogsmeade this afternoon?"

"Well, Prongs agreed for us all that we would go with some Ravenclaw girls, but it would be much more bearable if you guys came with us too," Sirius said.

"Oh, well we don't want to intrude if you're going with some people already," Carine said.

"No, no it's fine," James said. "We'll all go together."

"Hey there everyone is!" Allyson called as she walked over. "I was hoping you'd wait for me. So are you ready for breakfast? I'm starving."

"Oh, oops," Penny said. "We already ate."

"What! Thanks for waiting for me!"

"Penny's logic was that we better get out of the room so we don't wake you up," Lily said innocently.

"Hey, don't blame it on me," Penny said.

"Okay, I don't care whose idea it was, you all ditched me," Allyson said sadly.

"I'll go with you," Sirius said. "I'm actually still kind of hungry. We went really early so my stomach wasn't quite awake yet."

"Alright, thanks Sirius!" Allyson said and the two of them took off for the Great Hall.

"Aww, that was sweet of him," Carine said. "How long do you think before they get together?"

"You think they will?" Lily asked.

"I certainly hope so," James commented. "From what I can tell he really likes her."

"Yeah and she seems pretty into him," Penny responded. Lily noticed she gave James a suggestive smirk while she said that.

"I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back," Lily said and walked away from everyone. She couldn't bear the sight of Penny and James flirting again. She went immediately to her bed and lay down. She let out a huge sigh and then heard the door open. She flinched, assuming that it would be Penny bugging her about leaving everyone again. She was happy when she heard Kerri's voice instead.

"Hey Lil, wanna talk?" she asked sounding concerned.

"What's there to talk about? Penny and James are right behind Allyson and Sirius in the Couples-To-Be Club."

"I wouldn't go that far, but what happened? I thought you talked to Penny and she said she wasn't interested in him anymore."

"Well, turns out she changed her mind again. Now she wants a real relationship and she wants it with James. I have a feeling she's gonna get exactly that."

"Okay and I'm guessing you didn't inform her of how you felt about James?"

"Of course I didn't," Lily said. "The last thing I want is a bunch of useless girl drama over him. I know she would win anyway. And I know that James likes her so I can't just say 'please don't go after him, he's mine'. That's not fair to her or to James."

"So what do you plan on doing now?" Kerri asked. "Just sit back and watch them flirt shamelessly with one another before one of them actually confronts the fact that they like each other?"

"Sounds about right," Lily muttered.

"Well I have a better idea. Don't tell either of them how you feel about James, but continue with your plan to be nice to him. _Show_ him that you like him, or at least that you can be a good friend. And as far as Penny goes, she never knows what she wants. I'm guessing this desire for 'something real' will only last so long."

"But I don't want to just sit around while she breaks his heart. She cheated on the only guy she was actually officially together with. I wish James knew what he was getting himself into."

"Hey, don't jump to any conclusions. They're not even together yet and give her some credit, she's trying to change."

"Alright, I know. I get bitter when I'm jealous."

"Well, we should probably get downstairs; I think we're leaving for Hogsmeade soon."

"Why do I have a feeling this will not be such an enjoyable trip?" Lily sighed.

"Hmm I don't know, is it the ex girlfriend or the prospective girlfriend that will most bother you?" Kerri joked.

"Ahh, why am I going again?" Lily groaned as they headed down to the Common Room.

**A/N:** Hey, sorry it took a while to get this chapter up. Let me know what you think of it!


	5. The Showdown

**Chapter 5: The Showdown**

Lily and Kerri were surprised when they found the Common Room empty except for Penny and Carine.

"Where did everyone go?" Lily asked.

"James said they had to go meet the Ravenclaw girls so I guess we're just gonna meet them there," Carine said.

"Alright, so let's get going," Penny said.

"Wait, what about Ally and Sirius?" Lily questioned.

"I wouldn't worry about them," Penny said. "I'm sure they'll find us if they want to."

Once they had arrived in Hogsmeade they headed towards Zonko's Joke Shop where James had told them to meet. They wandered through the shop looking at the various prank items but soon grew bored. Lily stayed in the front of the store keeping an eye on the door. She soon saw Janie and two of her friends enter the shop but James, Remus, and Peter were not with them. Lily quickly looked down and pretended to be fascinated by a prank Wizard's Chess board. The girls however spotted Lily and walked over to her.

"Hey, you're James's friend right?" Janie asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Lily said. "I'm Lily."

"I'm Janie and these are my friends Sara and Christyn."

"It's nice to meet you," Lily said trying her best to sound friendly. "Any idea where James is? I figured he'd be coming with you"

"Nope, he just told us to meet him here. Him, Remus, and Peter came to meet us right before we left and that's when he told us we were meeting up with you guys too. Then they just kind of disappeared. We thought it was weird that we didn't just all walk over together, but I guess you never know what's really going on with those guys, right?"

"Yeah, James certainly has always been a mystery," Lily said. "Let me go get my friends and I'll introduce you." She was eager to get away from the overly friendly Janie. She was someone who Lily wanted to hate regardless of how nice or friendly she was. Lily found Penny, Carine, and Kerri in the back of the shop.

"Guess who's here," Lily said.

"Hopefully James and them, but I have a feeling that's not the case," Penny said.

"Yup, Janie and her friends are here and they are just as clueless as we are as to the whereabouts of the boys," Lily said.

"Well that's just wonderful," Penny said sarcastically.

"Come on, let's at least pretend we don't all have grudges against them and be social," Kerri said and started walking towards the front of the store.

"Who has a grudge against them?" Carine asked, confused. Lily and Penny chose not to answer and followed Kerri.

After about ten minutes of the two groups of girls awkwardly trying to make small talk the door to the shop opened and James and Peter walked in.

"Where the hell have you been?" Penny asked James.

"Yeah Prongs, we've been waiting forever," Janie said. Lily cringed when she heard Janie call James by the name that she knew only Sirius, Remus, and Peter called him.

"Geez, calm down ladies. I know how much you desire my presence, but you couldn't have been waiting that long. And just so you know we're late because it seems that Remus has fallen ill. We were on our way over and he had to turn back, he didn't look well so we decided to walk him back to Madame Pomfrey's."

"Oooh," Janie said acting as though everything made perfect sense now.

"Alright," Penny said. "Well I certainly hope he feels better. Now where should we head first?"

"Hey, we're not going anywhere. Wormtail and I have some shopping to do right in here." James and Peter began to wander away from the girls looking at the various pranks. Lily rolled her eyes as Penny took off after James. Janie gave Sara and Christyn an annoyed look and then headed towards James also.

"Hmm, does it look to anyone else like there's some competition towards James?" Christyn said.

"I was just thinking the exact same thing," Carine said. "I had no idea Janie still liked him. She was the one who ended things wasn't she?"

"Yeah, but I guess she realized how much she missed him over the summer," Christyn said.

"She would send us letters every week asking if we thought he would take her back and complaining about how she regretted ending it," Sara said.

"Wow, I had no idea," Kerri said. "This certainly makes things more interesting," she glanced towards Lily who was starring at the floor. Lily looked up and saw Kerri watching her.

"I'm gonna go and find Penny, I don't want her punching out Janie or anything," Lily said. She headed towards the other side of the store where James, Peter, Penny, and Janie were. James and Peter were browsing through trick candy while Penny and Janie looked like they were sizing each other up.

"Hey Penny can I steal you for a second?" Lily asked. She grabbed her by the arm and brought her outside the shop. "Listen, you can't keep doing this."

"Doing what?" Penny asked.

"Competing with Janie for James," Lily said.

"She is trying to get him back right? I mean _she's_ the one that left him. She broke his heart and now she just expects him to go running back to her?"

"No one's saying he's going to get back together with her," Lily said trying to calm her friend down.

"Yeah, I know. I'm not going to give her a chance. I need to let him know that he has other options, namely me. There's no way he would pick that tiny pansy over me. She seriously looks like she's twelve."

"So what do you plan on doing?" Lily asked.

"Oh, you'll see," Penny said and marched back into the store. Lily hurried after her. Janie and James were now talking and Janie was giggling at something he had said. Lily watched as Penny walked right up to him and, to her astonishment, kissed him. James kissed back for a second, but then quickly pulled away. He turned back towards Janie who immediately ran out of the store. James started after her but Penny pulled him back.

"If you chase after that little twerp than you can say goodbye to the best opportunity that'll ever happen to you," Penny said arrogantly.

"Penny, you had no right to do that in front of her, how insensitive can you get?" James said and walked away. Peter followed him out of the store.

"Great plan," Lily said as she approached Penny.

"Shut up Lily," Penny said and walked away. Lily went to find the rest of the girls. "Well you just missed all the excitement," she said. "Penny kissed James right in front of Janie."

"What!" Carine exclaimed. "I can't believe she would do that!"

"Wow, where's Janie?" Christyn asked.

"She just ran out of the store," Lily said. "I'd say you two should probably go look for her. She looked pretty upset."

"Yeah, thanks for letting us know," Sara said, as the two of them walked away.

"Wow, that was really low of her," Carine said. The girls decided to head back to the castle hoping that they would find Penny in their room, but both Penny and James were nowhere to be seen. When they entered the Common Room they did however find Sirius and Allyson cuddling together on a couch.

"Well, what is this?" Carine asked.

"Oh, hey guys," Allyson said. "Sirius was just helping me with my Astonomy homework. Why are you back so soon?"

"Well, you sure did miss some excitement," Lily said.

"Let's just say there was a bit of a clash between Janie and Penny," Carine said. "They both had their eyes on the same guy and Penny decided it would be a good idea to kiss James right in front of Janie."

"Oh my God," Allyson said. "What did James do?"

"Well Janie ran away, and when he started going after her Penny told him not to, then he told her she was stupid for kissing him and left after Janie," Lily said. "Then I talked to Penny for a second and she snapped at me and left too."

"Wow, so basically you have no idea where anyone is?" Sirius said.

"Right," Carine responded.

"Alright, I'm gonna go try and find Prongs," Sirius said. "We all have plans for later so I should be able to find him. I'll catch up with you tomorrow, ok Ally?"

"Yeah, sure" Allyson said. Sirius gave her a quick kiss and then ran out of the Common Room.

"Okay, what happened with you two?" Carine asked.

"I think we're officially together!" Allyson said smiling. "You don't think Penny will mind will she?"

"Are you kidding, James is definitely the only guy she's focused on at the moment," Kerri said.

"Okay, good," Allyson said. "So what should we do about her? Should we try and find her?"

"I don't think we have any ideas as to where she would've gone do we?" Carine asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she just wants to be alone right now," Lily said. "When she wants to talk to us she'll come to us."


	6. Name

**Chapter 6: Name**

Lily soon grew bored of waiting around in the Common Room hoping either Penny or James would show up so she decided to go on a walk. She had no idea where she was going to go, but she needed some time alone to think. She couldn't stand any more of Carine and Allyson talking either about Allyson and Sirius or making predictions on what would happen with James, Penny, and Janie. It was a nice day out so she decided to go to the castle's lawn and try and finish her book. When she got to the lawn she saw Severus Snape who looked busy doing an assignment. She had always felt bad for him since James and Sirius were so horrible to him and being nice to him had become like a project for her at first because she knew how much it bothered James, but now she considered him to be a good friend.

"Hey Severus," she said in her friendliest voice. "How was your summer?"

"It was alright, thanks," he said. "How was yours?"

"It was pretty dreadful, I'm so glad to be back at school. So did you do any traveling this summer or were you mostly at home?"

"Lily, you don't have to keep up your fake nice act this year, okay?"

"What?" Lily asked, surprised at his bluntness.

"I know you only talk to me because you feel sorry for me and it gets a little annoying."

"That is _not_ why I talk to you Severus, I thought you knew me better than that," Lily said, offended. "But hey, if you don't want me to talk to you anymore than I'll just leave you to your homework." She began to walk away when he called after her.

"Lily, no I didn't mean that. I just don't understand why else you would bother spending time with me."

"I like hanging out with you because you're so different from my other friends. You're honest and a good listener and not a shallow jock like most of the guys I know." Severus showed a hint of a smile.

"So tell me why your summer was so miserable? You didn't let Petunia get to you did you?" Lily was always amazed at how easily their conversations flowed. The two of them chatted for almost an hour before they were interrupted.

"Hey, Evans, can I talk to you for a second?" James asked, ignoring Severus.

"Um, yeah okay," Lily said. "I'll see you later Severus." Lily followed James to a spot underneath a large tree where he sat down.

"Why are you always hanging out with that guy?" he asked.

"Because he's my friend and he's awfully sweet and good at listening unlike most of the people I know," Lily snapped.

"He's bad news. I'm sure he's joined the Death Eaters by now."

"You have no right to say that. I can't believe how judgmental you can be."

"I'm just warning you, I have a really bad feeling about him and I don't want you to become too close with him," James said sounding genuinely concerned.

"Was there something you actually wanted to talk to me about or were you just trying to get me away from him?"

"No, I need to talk to you about Penny," he said.

"Shocking," Lily said rolling her eyes.

"Okay, so you saw what happened earlier. She kissed me right in front of Janie! And see, I wanted to kiss her back, but I couldn't do that to Janie in case she still has any feelings for me."

"Of course she has feelings for you," Lily said. "You saw her chasing you around at Hogsmeade."

"Yeah, okay so I suspected that she might want to get back together, but honestly I'm over her and I've been starting to get a thing for Penny," James said.

"Alright, so it sounds like everything is working out for you then," Lily said.

"Well, I'm afraid that I upset Penny today, when I told her she had no right kissing me in front of Janie."

"But you were right, she shouldn't have done that and I'm sure she's realized it by now."

"I hope so."

"Seriously, you have nothing to worry about. She really likes you."

"Thanks Evans," James said sincerely and stood up to leave.

"But James?"

"Yeah?"

"Talk to Janie first, she really likes you too and you owe her that."

"Yeah, I was planning on it."

"Okay, good."

"Thanks a lot for talking to me," James said. "And you realize what just happened here?"

"What?"

"You called me James," he said. "I'm not sure I've ever heard you say that." He smiled at her and walked away. Lily let out a sigh and watched James head back towards the castle. She tried to convince herself that she was happy for James and Penny, but she couldn't help but feel jealous. Her heart kept telling her that she was a better match for James than Penny and she was worried that Penny would do to him what she did to almost every other boy she had been with. She decided to read to take her mind off of everything.

When Lily looked at her watch she realized it was almost 6 and decided she should get back to the Common Room to go to dinner with everyone. She got to the Common Room and found all four of the girls chatting.

"Hey, where have you been Lil?" Penny asked.

"Oh, I was just reading outside. I didn't realize how late it was."

"You didn't happen to run into James did you?" Penny asked. "I haven't been able to find him anywhere and Sirius, Remus, and Peter are all gone too.

"Well they do tend to randomly disappear," Lily said. "And James said Remus was sick so maybe they're spending time with him."

"Hmm, well Sirius told me he'd see me tomorrow the last time I talked to him," Allyson said.

"Okay, who cares about what those silly boys are up to," Carine interrupted before Allyson and Penny could think of more places where they could be. "I feel like they're all we ever talk about."

"Yeah, I know seriously," Kerri said. "Do you guys wanna head to dinner?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry," Penny said.

"Okay, and can we please agree not to talk about boys?" Carine said. "At least just for this one meal?"

"Sounds good to me," Lily said.

The girls had a nice peaceful dinner where they talked about the details of their summers and how their first week of classes went. On their way back to the Common Room Janie, Sara, and Christyn passed by them on their way into the Great Hall. Lily smiled politely towards them all and they smiled back.

"Ugh, just the people I want to see now," Penny said once they were out of earshot.

"Lily!" Lily turned around to see Christyn running after her. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure," Lily said. She noticed Penny glaring at her as they continued to walk away. Lily and Christyn walked off in a different direction. "So how's Janie doing?"

"Well, she was really upset and mad at Penny and then she talked to James, and now she's even more upset."

"Wow, what did James say to her?" Lily asked.

"Basically he said that he moved on over the summer and that he liked Penny, but just didn't want to do anything to hurt her because he still cared about her."

"That was sweet of him, but I feel terrible for Janie."

"Yeah, me too," Christyn said. "But listen, the reason I wanted to talk to you is because I think you're really nice and I hope we can be friends regardless of this drama between everyone. But Janie can be pretty quick tempered so I just hope Penny doesn't try to rub it in her face or anything."

"Yeah, I'm not sure if she will or not, I can talk to her though," Lily said.

"Okay, thanks a lot. Well, I should get back to Janie, she'll probably be mad at me for talking to you."

"Oh no, I hope she doesn't hate me too."

"No, don't worry. She thinks you're really nice."

"Okay, well I'll talk to you later," Lily said and walked away. She walked back to the Common Room quickly, not wanting Penny to think she was talking to Christyn for too long.

"What was that all about?" Penny demanded as soon as Lily walked through the portrait hole.

"Nothing," Lily said.

"Don't give me that crap, since when are you all buddy-buddy with Janie's friends?"

"I'm not!" Lily said defensively. "Look, I talked to James earlier."

"What!" Penny almost screamed. "Why the hell are you just telling me about this now then?"

"Stop yelling, let's go to our room so the entire Gryffindor House doesn't hear about your drama." The girls walked up to their room quickly.

"Okay, so what did he say? And why didn't you tell me earlier when I asked you?"

"He said that he liked you," Lily said. "Which I think we all assumed anyway."

"He did?" Penny asked sounding relieved. "That's great!"

"And Christyn wanted to talk to me because she was worried that you would rub it in Janie's face or something because she got pretty upset when James told her."

"Come on, I wouldn't do that," Penny said. "Now that I've won, there's no need to be obnoxious about it." Lily gave her a doubtful look. "Okay seriously, I feel bad for the girl. I won't be stupid about it."

"Alright, good," Lily said. "Now, I'm gonna go to bed, I have a headache."

"Lily, do you realize it's not even 8 o'clock on a Saturday night?"

"Yeah, so I'm sure you have better things to do then watch me sleep," Lily said and crawled into her bed.

**A/N: Okay, so you people have really been slacking on the reviews so _please_ review. You'll totally make my day!**


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